PETER Crouch is confident his successful partnership with Jermain Defoe at Portsmouth can thrive with England if the pair are chosen for the World Cup Qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Belarus starting this weekend.
The duo have struck up a good understanding on the south coast since Crouch made the summer move from Liverpool to Fratton Park.
Now Crouch has been rewarded by being recalled to the international fold by Fabio Capello after not being chosen for the previous two squads.
The Pompey pair face stiff competition from Emile Heskey and Wayne Rooney for a place in the starting line-up but Crouch has faith that he and Defoe would hit it off if needed by Capello.
Crouch said: 'I think it helps that we play together at club level. If we spend any time on the pitch with England, we will slip straight into how we play at Portsmouth.
'I certainly think it helps. We haven't talked about playing for England together but it is an option and it will be of benefit that we play alongside each other week in and week out.
'We clicked together straight away. We play to each other's strengths. We set each other up and play very well as a combination.
'In fairness, I've played with Jermain right from the England Under-21s. The fact we played together will help internationally as well but we have certain other strikers in the squad who want to play as well.'
Crouch is relishing playing on a regular basis under Harry Redknapp after becoming frustrated at his lack of first team opportunities with Liverpool - particularly in the Premier League.
He said: 'I am really enjoying it. I said when I was at Liverpool that I wasn't playing as many games as I would have liked. I had to move on and at Portsmouth I am loving every minute of it.
'We are playing in Europe, I've played almost every minute and I've also been scoring goals recently.
'I've been pleased with my goal record for England and at club level as well. I always felt, given a run of games, that I was confident enough to get back in with England.
'I could have stayed at Liverpool, maybe played in the odd game here and there but I wanted to move on. I had faith in my ability and, if I played every week, I could show I was worthy to be in the England set-up.'
England are on the crest of a wave after demolishing Croatia 4-1 in Zagreb last month but Crouch insisted England's preparation will also be spot-on for the minnows of Kazakhstan.
He said: 'We have played teams we are expected to beat before and we will prepare just the same as any other game.
'We had a team meeting on Tuesday evening. It is the early part of the week but we are looking at things we can exploit, their weaker areas. We will prepare just as any other game.
'Mr Capello's preparation is very similar to the manager at Liverpool (Rafael Benitez) - in training and in terms of attention to detail. He won't leave anything to chance.'
Crouch also admitted he feared for his England future as he watched Capello's side destroy Croatia last month.
Crouch was already down after being left out of Capello's squad for the Qualifiers against Andorra and Croatia and the Portsmouth striker understandably had mixed emotions during England's thrilling victory in Zagreb.
Rooney was back to his best against Croatia and formed an impressive partnership with Emile Heskey, while even Jermain Defoe had jumped ahead of Michael Owen in the pecking order.
Crucial
So Crouch was delighted to see his team-mates claim a crucial win in such emphatic fashion, but he couldn't shake the feeling that his international prospects were dwindling as a result.
'When I was left out I thought to myself what am I doing wrong,' Crouch said.
'It was frustrating. Come the weekend you are watching the England game on the television and it's not the same.
'You want to be a part of it, especially when the game is on. To be honest, I was thinking they had done fantastically well, so do they need me?
'When England play so well you wonder if you're going to get another chance.
